Hunger & prison

I just watched the 2008 film Hunger. It is about The Maze Prison, the "dirty protest" and the 1981 hunger strike, and focused chiefly on Bobby Sands. It was a powerful film that relied heavily on silence. The conditions these political prisoners lived through (and died through) was difficult to watch even as a film.

The brutality inflicted upon the IRA prisoners immediately reminded me of the known brutality inflicted upon inmates at Abu Ghraib and other secret US prisons. You can see it in the abuse they suffer, the simple rights they are denied (and fight for), and the seeming last recourse of hunger strikes.

The IRA prisoners were able to use their hunger strike as a propaganda tool, a tool to further point out the brutality of Britain, to recruit young soldiers, and pressure the British government. Abu Ghraib prisoners have also attempted hunger strikes as a means to use their very lives as tools for improvement of conditions and to draw attention to their plights. Of course, a hunger strike relies heavily on being able to get the word out for support. It also relies on being able to actually carry out the hunger strike. The USA has a policy of force feeding prisoners to prevent death. The force feeding process is akin to torture.

Hunger also illustrates just how CO's/prison guards are one of the lowest forms of human beings. One has to be a sadistic pig to do that job.

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BOBBY SANDS
THE TROUBLES
MAZE PRISON
DIRTY PROTEST
1981 HUNGER STRIKE